Connecting Around Core Values w/ Commerce Bank

Meet three incredible leaders from Commerce Bank on this week's episode of the Something Extra podcast. Beth Feuring, Susan Kalist, and Becki Feldmann bring a wealth of experience across culture, commercial banking, and brand management. Tune in as they discuss the role of company culture in banking, how to balance innovation with customer relationships, and the something extra that fuels their leadership.

Guest Links:

• Beth’s LinkedIn
• Susan’s LinkedIn
• Becki’s LinkedIn
• Commerce Bank

Credits: 
Host: Lisa Nichols
Executive Producer: Jenny Heal
Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski
Podcast Engineer: Portside Media

Transcript

Lisa Nichols  00:02
Chromosomes, little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions that tell us who we are. At birth, most people are born with 46 chromosomes, but each year in the United States, about 6000 people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a person with Down syndrome. If you've ever encountered someone with Down syndrome, you know that they are some of the kindest, most joyful people you will ever meet. They truly have something extra. 

My name is Lisa Nichols, and for 30 years, I have been both the CEO of Technology Partners and the mother to Ally. Ally has something extra in every sense of the word. I have been blessed to be by her side as she impacts everyone she meets. Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the world. While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that defines who you are. 

Join me as I explore the something extra in leaders from all walks of life and discover how that difference in each of them has made a difference in their companies, their families, their communities and in themselves. If you like this episode today, please go to Apple Podcast or wherever you listen and leave us a five-star rating. 

Today, I'm delighted to be joined by the Commerce Bank team of Beth Feuring, Senior Vice President and Director of Talent Experience and Culture. Susan Kalist, Division Manager of Commercial Banking. And Becki Feldman, Senior Employee Experience and Brand Strategist. Well, welcome to the Something Extra Podcast, ladies. I have Susan, Beth, and Becki with me today. I am so excited about this conversation with you, lovely ladies,

Becki Feldman  01:49
Thank you, Lisa. We're happy to be here.

Beth Feuring  01:50
Thank you.

Susan Kalist  01:51
Thank you. Thank you.

Lisa Nichols  01:53
We said kind of in a sidebar conversation, there's a lot of woman power. A lot of woman power in the room right now. Which is really exciting. But you know, Becki and I have known each other for quite a while now. Becki, I don't even know how you and I originally met, but we've known each other for a while. And so, she was gracious enough to introduce me to Susan and Beth. And, and so now I have a couple of new friends, which is really fun. But I know one thing's for sure, ladies, we're going to have a lot of fun. We're going to have a lot of fun today. So, I would love to go around the room just as we start here. And why don't each of you tell me just a couple of things about your younger self and your childhood you can talk about where you grew up. I would love to know what each of you like to do as a child. And Susan, I thought we would go with you, start with you, because I know that you love one of the things you love to do, even today, is swim. And so, I was wondering if you grew up as a swimmer, do we on swim teams and stuff as a little girl? 

Susan Kalist  02:56
Nothing professional, but I've got three sisters. And so, we always had a pool and God bless mom, that was a way to keep us out of trouble, entertained and get some exercise so that we would actually sleep at some point. Getting four rowdy girls to bed at night was a challenge. But, but grew up with three sisters, so there's some more woman, you know, connectivity that still exists today. God bless my sisters. They're awesome. They're some of my best friends. But, just grew up in Lisa, you and I were sharing and comparing, you know that we kind of live in God's country, right? So, a little bit off the beaten path, but close enough to civilization. And so, that's kind of how I grew up as well, and with farm fields around. And so, it's a kind of ironic. I work in a in an office, but anytime I can get outdoors. I love to get outdoors, but always played on my family's team, as far as like we did everything together. But then I love to play softball too, growing up. And so, team sports, whether that's athletic related or work related. It's a team sport.

Lisa Nichols  04:03
I love what you just said, Susan, you played on your family's team, you know.

Susan Kalist  04:07
Whatever we did, it was our family.

Lisa Nichols  04:12
That is, what a blessing, what a blessing. I mean it truly. You're, you're a blessed woman to have had that background. Beth, how about you. Tell me a little bit about you.

Beth Feuring  04:23
I live the opposite direction of all you. So, I live in Jefferson County, so it is also very far away, I feel like. I grew up around woods and farms, and dancing was always my thing. So, I was a competitive dancer. And then I started when I was three, and danced all the way through high school. And then I ventured into, like, professional dancing with some local, like sports teams in St Louis. And then, then I went and I was like, I really miss it. So, then I took some classes as an adult. I tried to get, like, all of our, like, competitive teams back together, like some of my friends, and say, Come on, let's go back. Some of the teachers are still there. And so, we danced, then we did recitals and then my daughter started dancing. And I decided I should probably not dance and embarrass her up on stage while she is dancing. And it's her time, but it's her senior year, so I plan to go back next year when she's not dancing there anymore.

Lisa Nichols  05:22
That is so awesome. I love that. Well, we have a little bit in common. I grew up dancing too. My very best friend and I, we started dancing at Rosemary Peterson studio in Kentucky when I was three years old and didn't dance professionally. But you know, now we've kind of come full circle because our youngest daughter Ally. And Becki knows this, our youngest daughter Ally is a ballroom dancer and ended up winning dancing with the St Louis stars in 2019. Yes. 

Beth Feuring  05:55
Get out, that is such an intense type of dance, but it's so beautiful.

Lisa Nichols  05:59
It is, it is. It's so fun and so I would take her, and so she continued dancing even after that. And so, I would take her to her lessons, and I usually take my laptop, because there's never enough time, right, ladies? I'm sitting there trying to catch up. And about a year ago, I'm like, This is ridiculous. I need more fun in my life. I'm going to start taking too.

Beth Feuring  06:20
You too? It's so fun. 

Lisa Nichols  06:24
It's so fun. It's great exercise. I say it's great exercise, physically and mentally. 

Beth Feuring  06:31
You have to remember your steps.

Lisa Nichols  06:32
You have to think about your steps and that, right? So, anyway, that's so fun. We've got, we got some stuff in common there too. Well, Miss Becki, you know, the thing that I think about with Becki, if Becki just had a little bit more enthusiasm and passion in life? No, I mean, your most positive person, joyful always has a smile on her face. And I think that's why I just was drawn to you, Becki, but tell me a little bit about you and what you did as a little girl and where you grew up.

Becki Feldman  07:06
Well, I was always buzzing, even as a little kid. And so, I grew up in North County. I grew up in Ferguson, born and raised, and then moved out to St. Charles County for gosh, my high school time. But I went to Incarnate Word Academy if you're from St Louis. So loved my all girls school that I went to, and not like you guys. I was not a dancer. I was a cheerleader. And the funny thing about that is, gosh, probably my sophomore year they introduced dance components into cheerleading, and I was like, I didn't sign up for this. I can't do the one, two, whatever. I don't even know what that is, but I said, Oh my gosh. Like I can do the rigid cheers, but getting me coordinated into a dance was, that was rough, but I did it all the way through senior year. When I was a kid, though I played every sport. I played softball and loved it. I played soccer, and there's hilarious stories, because I think I was kind of like my youngest son is right now, I'm just happy to be there. I wasn't very good at the sports I was playing. But I enjoyed myself and probably had more fun cheering than I did playing. And didn't really care if I got playing time either. So, that's a little bit about my sports background. I also was really into art growing up, and thought I was going to be an art teacher when I that's what I would say when I was young. I wanted to grow up and I wanted to be an art teacher, but that didn't happen. But I'm able to do art in very different ways, in the corporate world, and then also in some of the other things that I do outside of work.

Lisa Nichols  08:53
That's the other thing I would say about you, Becki, I think you're very creative. So, it probably kind of stems back to that. I had, I don't know if you guys have read Six Types of Genius or not, but I had Patrick Oni on the Something Extra Podcast. He was my 300th episode. I'm sure you've read some of his books, Five Dysfunctions of a Team. He's got a million books out there, but the whole concept of six types of genius is really to go back to kind of what you did as a child, you know, and it really sometimes comes full circle. And I just, I love that. I love that. So, so, Beth, have you started a dance team there at Commerce Bank?

Beth Feuring  09:34
No, actually, so what I do is I turn birthday celebrations into little dances. So, when someone has a birthday on my team, like it or not, I'm going to sing obnoxiously. I'm gonna do a little dance for them. I usually record them. I usually send them to them, and then it's quite funny, seeing reactions. 

Lisa Nichols  09:51
I love it. I love it. I love it. Well, you know, you all have had successful careers, very successful careers. But I'd really love to start because there's so much, I want to talk about. I kind of want to start now where you are now you all are at Commerce Bank. An amazing, iconic bank that is, we're going to talk about it. We're going to talk about why it's so amazing. But you know, Susan, I think you've been in banking now for, should I say 25 years? But you're not that old. You started when you were 12, I know, but you've been at some, you know, Bank of America, BMO, now Commerce. Beth, you've been at Commerce, I think, for 25 years as well, right? Now, Becki, you came from SSM healthcare, so you came out of healthcare, but mostly have always been kind of in the people function, in the HR function. Was that a big switch for you? Was that a big learning curve coming from healthcare into banking? What was that like?

Becki Feldman  10:57
That, I always think about that. And you know, SSM was a mission-based organization, and so I always thought, Gosh. Moving into a different sector was going to be really, really difficult for me. But I have found the mission and culture of Commerce is stronger than anything I have ever felt. And so, when I was kind of making that transition. I was kind of on the fence like, should I, should I make this move? I grew up at SSM for 16 years, and the one thing that sent me over, and Beth always hears this, I still have the email in my Hotmail account. The subject line was because, Beth knew I was kind of waffling a little bit like, Should I do this, this is a big change. And the subject line was, “If you want to build something, this is your place”. And that has rang true my entire, almost it'll be six years in July. Every day I have the opportunity to build. And that is really the culture that's our something extra that, that brought me here, that keeps me here. And I think that's something that a lot of Commerce team members share, is that reason for coming and staying.

Lisa Nichols  12:14
I love that. That's beautiful. I mean, really having the opportunity to be part of the story, right? And building the culture and so that really kind of takes me into I want, I want to talk about this. I know that you guys have a women in leadership that you did, you know, that you developed in 2022 I think you used an external coach. I'd love for you guys to talk more about that. It's a 10-month program with about 20 participants in a cohort. So, many times, I think, as women, we're taking care of everybody else. We're doing all these different things, but really taking the time to step back and work on us is not necessarily something that we do. Sometimes we put that on the back burner. And by building this program and developing this program, you really allowed women to do that and to step back and build their own personal development plan. Susan, I know that both of you went through it. Becki, did you go through it too?

Becki Feldman  13:13
No, I've been a part of our leadership development program. But not women in leadership.



Lisa Nichols  13:18
Women in leadership. Okay, so I know that, Susan. I know that you both went through the program, and I've read so many different testimonials about it. Amy Piper really applauded the program, but I'd love for you each to tell me a little bit about your experience. And when you did, you see different outcomes, and I don't know if you measured before and after. Did you I don't want to put words in your mouth, did you come out with more confidence? How did you show up differently after the program? And Susan, I'll let you go first and then Beth. You can follow, follow Susan and give me your thoughts.

Susan Kalist  13:58
Thanks, Lisa. So, I was blessed to be part of the inaugural class. Our first rodeo with Women in Leadership here at Commerce and we, we engaged IMPACT Group externally as the outside consulting firm. But Beth and her team were really lockstep in hand, so we had our internal friends and our external consultants working with us. I'll tell you, so we were there, like I said, we were the inaugural class, and so you don't know what you don't know, and we were on this journey together, 9-10, months long. What I will say to your point earlier, Lisa, we're always so busy taking care of our families, our friends, even at work, even as leaders or teammates. We want to take care of our team, and sometimes we don't leave a lot of bandwidth for yours truly in the mix. This forced us, and even in the initial stages of the of the program, you know, setting goals, setting milestones, it's so easy to put on that hat of well, what do others expect, not what do I expect? What do I need? And so, this was transformational for me, even someone who I thought was an I thought I was pretty enlightened about taking care of the big picture and myself in order, like the better I am, the better I can serve, right? Well, I learned a lot. I had work to do. 

Susan Kalist  15:21
In summary, besides all the amazing connections with some additional folks I knew about, there were about 20 of us, Lisa. And I knew pretty closely about half of the ladies that went through the program, and they're from geography, all around the Commerce footprint. I got to be real close friends with the other 10 folks that I just met in that program. But I'll say the biggest standout for me personally, besides this really forcing us to be our authentic selves and take care of ourselves, was no negative self-talk. That's my mantra. Like, anytime I catch myself dissing myself, or like, oh, you shoulda, woulda, coulda, or that didn't, that didn't, I'm more. I flip it to the affirmations. It's like, this is what I will do. This is what I can do, not woulda, shoulda, coulda, didn't. It's the positive, it's the no, negative self-talk. That was my big one. 

Lisa Nichols  16:16
It doesn't serve you well, does it? And it doesn't change anything, even when you just makes you feel worse, if you if you engage in that, right? So, wow, there's just so much I love about that. And I think you know, Susan, to your point, you knew about half of the women, so you've got to know these other women on a much deeper level. And don't you guys think in the business, like when you really have a personal relationship with somebody, of one of your team members, that you can go so much faster then, because and you know who to lean on, right? And maybe you need a resource, or maybe you need to learn more about an area. Now you've got a personal relationship, so it allows you to, I don't know. I just think that's really powerful. Well, Beth, how about you?

Beth Feuring  17:06
We call that our work best friend. It's like, you know, there is something to be said about having somebody at work that you have as your bestie. But then in addition to that, you have your network. So, I actually didn't go through the program. I was responsible for bringing it to Commerce, and so like Susan said, we get to work. I always say I have the best job ever. So, I get to meet all of these talented women and leaders within Commerce Bank. And then I actually I also get to experience the content when they go through it. And so, The IMPACT Group is who we used, and what differentiate the program or the experience is they do, they have kind of their secret sauce, but then they also lean on what we have as a culture and figure out how to make what we need from the program kind of into the content. But each woman is kind of in a triad, so they have their manager is very much a part of this journey with them, and then they have a professional coach that is from The IMPACT Group. No two women like I have leadership programs internally that we do all the time. And what makes this one unique is in the larger cohorts, they're all kind of going through the same content and the same experience. 

Beth Feuring  18:16
With women in leadership no experience was the same because it was very individualized to like what Susan needed, or if Becki was in the program, what Becki needed, and they all walk away with kind of what is, what is your brand? What do you want to be known for? And at the end of the cohort, that's probably one of the, the biggest things is they have to authentically come out and say to leaders in the room and to our executives in the room, hey, think of me when. And that is one of the you would think that would be like an easy thing to figure out, like, hey, I want you to think of me when. But women don't naturally project. I want you to think of me when this comes up, or when this opportunity is there, and to see that shift in the women from the beginning to the end. And these are women that I admire, that some of them, I mean, I've looked at their careers and what they've done, and to see that confidence boost on the other end it, there's nothing really like it. And I will also say one of Susan's think of me when’s was around culture. And Susan has had such a heart for all things Commerce and culture, which led actually to her becoming one of our internal facilitators, so around culture. So, it's a, it's just a beautiful thing, how it all works. Powerful program. And if you don't know The IMPACT Group, I suggest you get to know them. They're great.

Lisa Nichols  19:40
Lauren Herring. Dear, dear friend of mine as well, Laura.

Beth Feuring  19:46
So, they, they have been remarkable partners. We've offered two of them internally. But that also goes back to our culture and what our leaders believe matter, you know, matters and developing talent. And all that. So, I'm very fortunate to have that support.

Lisa Nichols  20:04
I know, I know that there's research out there, ladies, and I don't know what the percentage is, but you know, if you look at a job description, you know, women are like, Oh, I gotta have 90% of that, right? Men, don't. You know, they're like, they'll put themselves out there. But really, and I've had so many leaders on the podcast that, that, that say, you know you've got to, you've got to be an advocate for yourself. You do have to let people know what your brand is. You've got to let them know what your aspirations are, because people can't read your mind, right? And I will tell you, I've had so many successful women on the podcast that have said, No. I raised my hand for that, and I said, Hey, you know, I think I would like to do that project. A lot of times it's projects that no one else wanted.

Beth Feuring  20:55
You hear that comment that's a common thread.

Lisa Nichols  20:58
The common thread, it's a common thread, but having the courage to do that. So, couple components that you know, wanted to ask about, the different components. I know that they're going through this, they've got this a professional coach or professional executive coach that that's paired with them, and then at the end, there's a capstone presentation, right? Yes. So, tell me a little bit about that. Beth, and that had to been a little bit. Susan, was that a little bit harrowing? Was that a little bit like.

Susan Kalist  21:23
It was until I embraced the you know what? This is my moment, and I am going to be 100% honest, and I might surprise some people, what I really want to do with my career, but I'm putting it out there.

Beth Feuring  21:37
And that's, that's what I was telling you at the end the presentation is really because they've worked with this coach along the way. They have kind of three pillars that they work towards, one of which is their personal brand and what they learn about themselves. But there's also a very strong business component of it, and learning the business. And when they get in the room that day, we do have every one of our executive leaders attends for the full day, for all of the presentations. And in the beginning, they have, like a little, a little summary of, of who they are, but they're still standing up there in front of everyone. And the other thing is, is we all get to write feedback for each person, and they're not feedback on how they did on their presentation. It's like, Hey, I have an I like based on what you told me, contact me. I know so and so. I can connect you with so and so. 

Beth Feuring  22:29
And so, at the end of it, each woman walks out with a full ring of all these thoughtful like notes and things that they can look back on that day and go, Oh my gosh, I did that. But then we also have a book that we have that has all of the women's profiles in it that says, Think of them when. And I gotta tell you, in my job again, because it's the best job ever I get to go back and look and say, Oh, this is a project that so and so raised their hand, said, think of me when. And we can make connections that way. So, Susan, you had to be in front of the room and do that. I from my end, it was beautiful and it was wonderful. And there were times that I was like, I was so proud of them. It was hard not to get emotional, because you've been on this journey with them, but Susan, you were on the other side of that. So, it may feel different.

Susan Kalist  23:17
It was a little was, you know, a little bit nervous, at the same time, it's like, Hey, this is, this is an opportunity. Let's, let's roll with this, you know. And I think most of the folks took the opportunity too to bring props that was optional. And I'll never forget, and we did, like, a two-minute thing at the beginning where we just kind of, kind of touch on our brand, and then we evolve a little bit more with our longer presentation in the afternoon after lunch. But I'm always I still have it. My Prop was two puzzle pieces. I did arts and crafts. Becki, you would be proud of me. I had two puzzle pieces that are in the shape of our Commerce brand culture pyramid. And I basically said this program allowed me to put the pieces of my career puzzle together, and anytime I can blend my day to day, working with my team into our culture. I'm fulfilled, and that's my authentic self that I want to be at Commerce. So, think of me when, and it all came to fruition within less than a year of graduation, if that's the capstone. Now, as Beth alluded, I get to be one of two handfuls. You know, there's less than 10 folks that get to lead our culture facilitation for the bank, and I get to be one of them. Now, it's an honor.

Lisa Nichols  24:38
That's so awesome. That is so awesome. Well, Susan, I love everything you just said. But the other thing I'm thinking about you've done the work. You did 10 months of work. So, really, that gives you confidence too, right? Knowing that, No, I put the work in behind this to actually stand up and make this presentation, because I feel like I am. Presenting my authentic self, so it's just so beautiful well. And now, okay, I'm gonna ask you one more question, then we're gonna take a quick break. And then I want to come back and just do a deep, deep dive into culture, because I know that it's a major differentiator for you guys. How many women have gone through this now, you know, how many cohorts have you had? And then what's next? I mean, is there a is there a graduate program for the ladies that went through in the inaugural one? I mean, what are you guys thinking? 

Beth Feuring  25:28
We have, we've only done two. So, we started, Susan was the first cohort, we had another one last year. So, we did back-to-back intentionally so that we could learn and apply the feedback from the first one to the second one. We're on pause this year because we also partner with UMKC for an executive development program that's happening now. And then next year, we will be doing Women in Leadership again. And one of the ways that we will engage the, the alum is to bring them back for panel discussions and networking with the newbies that are coming through the program. So, we will be doing it again. They are fabulous partners for us.

Lisa Nichols  26:09
Awesome, awesome. I love it. I love it. Well, let's take a quick break, and then we'll be right back on the Something Extra Podcast with these lovely ladies.

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Lisa Nichols  26:46
Well, welcome back everyone to the Something Extra Podcast with Susan, Beth, and Becki from Commerce Bank. So, ladies, we've talked about this a little bit, but you guys have just built such an amazing culture at Commerce. And I think, as we've just seen from what you guys talked about with your Women in Leadership, it is intentional. You're very intentional in how you have built this culture. So, what I know Edge is the you know, the program does that is that an acronym for something? No, it's just, tell us. Tell us more about it, Beth.

Beth Feuring  27:25
It is our edge. So it is, let me think of how to describe it. So, we have been asked it before, is it your? Is it an acronym for something? And it's not. It is a consistent program that we launched internally with, we actually partnered with an external consulting firm, Senn Delaney at the time, now, they're Heidrick & Struggles. They have a set core of kind of culture concept that they will put you through and put leadership team through. So, it starts with the top works its way down through the organization, and because they do believe culture is leader led and sustained by all. And so, we put all leaders through this. It's a common language of concepts that we use, and we have woven that into everything that we do going on 15 years now. But the base and the foundation of that is our purpose, our core values and our guiding behaviors. So, it's all a common language that we put in everything that our team members do, so from onboarding to recruitment to development to sustainability, it's all there through the whole life cycle.

Lisa Nichols  28:41
Well, I was gonna say, I mean, Commerce is huge. I mean, you guys, I think, have what, 32 billion in assets. You've got close to 5000 employees. I mean, that's hard, right? To infiltrate culture that way. But what you just described to me, Beth, is it's the common thread through onboarding and everything. So can you guys, one of you, I don't know, Becki or Susan, kind of describe to me, because I know when I've taught you guys in the past, like, you know, you've got the master, you know, you got the master culture champions, and then you've got those people have champions underneath them. Can somebody kind of explain the logistics of that to me?

Becki Feldman  29:21
Absolutely. So, it's our culture network really is what it is. And I'll start by saying, you know, when I first started at Commerce being part of talent development, I got to attend a culture off site, a culture retreat for our master champs and our super champs. I was not yet in that role, but I got to attend. And one of the things that struck me Lisa is, oh my goodness, they let us spend eight hours today working and talking about culture, and that's when I knew this was the real deal. That Commerce understands, that we take care of people. We focus on our culture, and that impacts, obviously, the team member experience. It impacts the customer experience. They can feel it, and it leads to business outcomes. I mean, that is what makes us different. 

Becki Feldman  30:14
So, the I'll kind of start from the top, as a master champ. Actually, even above that, we have an EMC, so an executive management team member who kind of rotates over the years, who is playing in that that role. So, it's not the same person every year. They might hold that role for a couple of years, and then when it's when it's time, they'll pass the torch to someone else to be the culture carrier for the organization. But below that, there are master champs. And this master champ role is in addition to someone's day job. So, each master champ supports an Executive leader. And then underneath the master champs, we have our super champs. And so, these are the people who are kind of the arms and legs, you know, into the organization, to really make sure that the culture is aligned, to really support a leader within a line of business, within a specific area of the bank. Because we know that, you know, there is an overall Commerce culture, but there are going to be some specific needs of certain departments. And so, that that super champ is going to be working with that leader to say what matters most to you. How do your team members like to experience culture? And they listen and learn, and they're a partner in making that happen. 

Becki Feldman  31:33
So, I currently play the role of master champ in talent management, and then I have a team of super champs who I work with to really spread the word and to be the culture carriers to bring that into the lives of everyone at Commerce. And Susan got to play that role too in her Commerce career. Susan, were you a master champ and a super champ at one point?

Susan Kalist  31:59
Yes, I was. I was a super champ first, and then got to be a master champ on the commercial side for almost three years. So, and what a great three years. It's hard to pass the baton, but, you know, it's all part of the program. 

Lisa Nichols  32:12
Right. Well, that's how you scale, right? So, how, what does, what does that look like exactly? So, if you're the master champ and you have super champs under you, are you, are there regular meeting rhythms that you're doing with those people? Just one on one?

Becki Feldman  32:28
We create culture plans. So, it's, it's pretty neat the way that we do it. And again, the culture plan for talent management is going to look different than the culture plan for commercial or for IT. And so, we, we really have a listening strategy where we, we ask, you know, what matters most to you around culture? How do you want to experience culture? You know, some people, it's the day to day. Some people want to talk about social events. Some people want to talk about education. Maybe they want a little bit more to understand. What are the tools and resources available to me? You know, as part of our culture. So, Edge is a piece of our culture. 

Becki Feldman  33:05
We have the pyramid, as Susan was talking about, there's Agile in that, there is innovation as part of the culture pyramid. There's inclusion, there's Commerce For You, which is our development area. So, there are certain pieces of the pyramid that people say I want to learn more about that help me with it. So, that's where our master champs are working with our executive director, who they support, to really understand what are the priorities and that will change year to year. A culture plan is not a set it and forget it. It's going to grow, it's going to change, and that's all based off of feedback from not only our annual team member survey, but we have an ongoing listening strategy. I call it the Always On listening strategy that really gives us some really good data, but the data just gives us direction. The culture champs really dig in there and have conversations to understand what matters most. And to figure out what are those priorities, and what are we going to focus on for that that calendar year. 

Lisa Nichols  34:12
That is so good that just brings me when I talk to you all before. I don't know who said this, but they said our culture works because we work at it.

Becki Feldman  34:24
Absolutely, that is the thing. And that was that, like light bulb moment that I had. We had our off site at Mizzou five years ago now, and I was like, it works because we work at it. It's incredible. And again, that word intentional is something that you brought out, Lisa. It's something that we think about every day. Every team member is thinking about it, because in I'm sure we'll talk about some Edge concepts in a little bit, but we are all personally responsible to be a culture carrier, and we hold ourselves accountable to that. That's why this works.

Beth Feuring  35:06
And I will say, I think it, it really is, going back to the very first thing, I think you said our culture really is our differentiator. And there's a reason we're celebrating 160 years this year. There's a reason we have the results that we do, that doesn't just happen out of nowhere. And you know, one of the sayings in the in that you'll hear is culture can eat strategy for breakfast. It drives our strategy, it drives our results, and it's how we communicate, it's how we innovate, it's how we learn, it's how we grow, it's all of those things. And it shows up in our bottom line, no doubt about it. 

Becki Feldman  35:41
It also shows up in our personal lives, too, and in our relationships with customers. I love that it spills outside of work. I mean, that's really what it does.

Beth Feuring  35:53
I was gonna say, and Susan actually has like, like because she's on the commercial side, like, the way that it shows up with her clients, and how she uses that to talk about Commerce. I mean, Susan, those would be some good stories to share. I'd love.

Lisa Nichols  36:05
I'd love to hear them. Susan, give me a story.

Susan Kalist  36:11
Nothing, nothing's better than when you're, you know, taking a tour with a client, around their pride and joy, seeing their operation, and they've got maybe some of their core values posted, or they discuss it in just conversation. And just being able to connect around those core values and what's important and taking care of people because servant leadership. I think we all agree that's where it's at so but I'll tell you, there's so many concepts we don't have time to talk about all the concepts. But one of the things that we talk about is Commerce takes the Golden Rule, which is, you know, treat others the way you'd like to be treated. And we morphed it into what we call the Platinum Rule, which is, treat others the way they'd like to be treated. So, in speaking of how we operate internally, but then also when we go out and work with clients, we really make it a priority to understand what matters most to them, what's important. It's and maybe it's part of that core values that they have up on their wall, but really listening and having conversations to be instrumental in hopefully helping them achieve what matters most to them. 

Susan Kalist  37:19
The other thing is, we have a long-term view. That's one of our core values. And I'm proud to say that last year, we won a client that we had been having conversations with for, like, over five years. And it was all about just this, this Platinum Rule, Lisa. It was all about treating others the way they want to be treated. And frankly, they came back and articulated that to us when we officially won their relationship, and they came to Commerce. They said we, number one, we talk to you more than we talk to our current bank or predecessor bank, I'll call them now. And then, two, you really get us. You listen, you understand what's important to us, and you show up with those kind of ideas and strategies to help support us. So, I'm blessed to say that if we're doing it well internally, we're going to show up as a team that's well functioning, and we're going to be successful. It might take us five years to figure out what buttons to push and help them, but we're going to be in it for the long run. And then we're going to keep those relationships internally, retain those employees and externally, keep those clients, hopefully for the long run. 

Lisa Nichols  38:25
That is, oh, that's beautiful. Susan. It is because I'm thinking, what I going through my mind is I'm thinking, when you're doing the work internally, the external constituents will feel it.

Susan Kalist  38:37
Yes, ma'am.

Lisa Nichols  38:38
They will feel it, you know. So, you brought up something, and Becki, you talked about the Edge concept. So, I do want to talk to you guys about this, because I know and I'm so intrigued by this, because you start every meeting with an Edge concept, and I think that's awesome. And you are really you're drilling it down into the DNA. Give me an example of that. Give me like an Edge concept and does every like so Becki's in different meetings than Beth is. Beth is in different meetings than Susan is. Do you choose your concept that you're going to start that meeting with, or is it everybody is starting this week with this concept? How does it work? And can you give me an example of an edge concept that you would be talking about?

Beth Feuring  39:26
Who wants to take it?

Susan Kalist  39:28
I can jump in with be here now. We just did it this morning. So, we rolled out our 2025, goals from, from my commercial team that I, that I get to lead this morning. And to your question, Lisa, there's not a concept of the week necessarily. Although we do really focus on appreciation several times throughout the year and make that a permeating concept. But every it's kind of up to the leader, and honestly, sometimes it comes up from the team. It kind of goes both ways. But this morning, I just asked the team, with all the distractions of the new year, to focus on one of our concepts when I kicked off my team meeting this morning. I said one of our concepts is be here now, and that that kind of explains it just with those three words, you probably get it right there, but it's all about being fully present, avoiding distractions, you know, really prioritizing your listening and really making the conversation count. So, because we have that vernacular, Lisa, all I said was, hey, I'm so excited to share our goals. You know, we've got about 40 minutes that we're going to talk about our goals this year and a little bit about strategy to get those goals, but let's all be here now. And I said, I literally took my phone, turned it off, and set it out of sight, like, off to the side of the conference room table, and said, I'm starting with me. I'm going to be here now for this meeting, and let's all be here now. So, that's a simple one. 

Beth Feuring  40:51
That's your shadow, Susan. That's your shadow, and you're modeling it.

Lisa Nichols  40:55
Yes, absolutely, that's good. Anybody else? What's your favorite concept?

Becki Feldman  40:59
I think an example that Susan shared is really like, sometimes it's not an activity, it's just, it's part of what we do. And even just bringing up that concept to, you know, in that in that meeting, it wasn't necessarily a meeting starter, per se, it's just part of our normal way of working. Now, in other areas of the bank, it may be an activity. So, I'm thinking of in retail, in our in our branches, for example, in their stand-up huddles that they do they may have a concept that they are going to touch on. Maybe it's listened to understand, maybe it's assumed positive intent. Again, really great concepts that we have, again, just touching on it in a huddle for talent management specifically. We have an all-team meeting once a month, and we spend at least 15 minutes of that meeting on culture. And we do it as sort of kind of lighting the fire. We call it a fire starter, where one of our team members is standing up, talking about a particular concept, giving tips, talking through what that means to them and what it looks like in their work, and how we can, as talent management, embrace that concept a little bit more. So, again, it can look different in different work environments, but it's always there for us to draw from.

Beth Feuring  42:27
That's great. Oh, go ahead. 

Lisa Nichols  42:29
You know what I was going to say. I think what's so powerful about this, ladies, in that you've spent so much time on this, it's a common language. 

Beth Feuring  42:39
100% 

Lisa Nichols  42:39
Too, right? You gotta kind of have a common language, because when you say, be present now, Susan, everybody knows what that means, right? When I mean that's, I think that's what is so critical, is to have that. And you obviously have done the work to do that.

Becki Feldman  42:57
Lisa, that's why, you know, you think of these things. And we're throwing it out there is like, you know, it may sound, you know, wonder, well, what does that one mean? That's why we take a lot of time with our new team members, so that they can feel a part of it early, throughout their first-year experience. You know, there's a lot of concepts, but we break it down and we have their leader actually talking with them in their one on ones, about two concepts a month, just to really, you know, ask, what does this mean to you? And the leader is sharing, this is what it means to me. So, they're personalizing it and having a conversation about it. It's not just something that they're reading. They're going to continue to hear these phrases in meetings, and we want to make sure that they're a part of it. 

Becki Feldman  43:41
I'll also say in our first-year experience, you know, because these concepts are probably very different than where they came from, there's some behaviors that they need to unlearn, and we need to let them know it's okay too. So, we break that down, to say things like, it's okay to ask for clarification. It's okay to raise your hand and share an idea and say, I've never done it that way. This is how we did it, where I came from. Have we thought of this? It's okay to take time off for your family, like, that's be here now. If something is going on at home that's very, very important, we want you to be there and we want you to take care of your family. But like, these are things that are not part of other work cultures, and so we need to help them understand it's okay to unlearn those behaviors that they've learned over the years. 

Lisa Nichols  44:41
That's so good. That's so good, I guess. How do you know, let me ask you this question, how do you know if it's working? Retention numbers? I mean, I know that you do. I think you every May you do an employee survey, I'm sure you're measuring all of those things, is that, I'm sure that's one of the ways. Tell me Beth what you were going to say.

Beth Feuring  45:08
As I say, that goes back to Becki's always on listening strategy and the annual survey, even though it only happens once a year. There's so much weight that we put onto that survey. We have an incredibly high percentage, like a response rate in your upper 80s of 46-4700 team members actually take that survey and complete it. And within that survey, we have some indexes, and one of the indexes is a culture index. And so it's measuring things like what Becki was talking about, do you feel like you can toss out a new idea? Can you, I mean, there's tons of questions that go back to things that we are covering in our culture concepts, and each leader can go into their dashboard and see the results of that. They can break it down to the next leader level, so they have that information that feeds into those culture plans that Becki was talking about. 

Beth Feuring  46:04
But in addition to that, there's this. We do pulse surveys throughout the year on different things. So, we want to know why are people staying, if we lose you, why are you leaving? We want to know what got you here in the first place. So, we've got different strategies to try to put together information on our people that tell us when something is working well and when something might not be. And if it's teetering into an area that we feel like we need a touch up there that's then kind of our cue, whatever that might be, to go and have some sort of a conversation or approach around it. So, leaders pay attention to it. It's one of our key results that we look at every year, is, how are we doing on our annual survey metrics? And so just as much as we have those financial results, we have some people metrics in there too.

Lisa Nichols  46:55
And I'm sure you're doing trend analysis on that too, Beth, right? You're keeping the historical data and looking at how.

Beth Feuring  47:02
We see year over year trend. You can look back five-year. All of it.

Lisa Nichols  47:06
That's so good. That is so good, ladies. Well, tell me a little bit, because we talked about this, and I don't even know how this came up, really, but I know that you have the Commerce Foundation, and part of it, it's all people, right? And taking care of your people. And I can't, I can't remember who I was, which one of you I was talking to, but I was talking about a scenario with an employee, and you go, Oh, we really do take care of our people, because we, you know, have this foundation if somebody's going through hardship or whatnot. So, can one of you tell me a little bit more about that, and then I have a few personal questions for you, and then we're going to talk about something extra.

Beth Feuring  47:50
Becki, was it you that was talking about E to E?

Becki Feldman  47:51
It might have been me or Susan. I mean, I can talk about from a story perspective, but, you know, we have a I'll say just the way that the process works. I mean, there's an application process, and there is a board of team members who evaluate the applications that come in. But we have kind of an appeal every year, just like you would for kind of external campaigns around United Way. For example, you know, we do that, and we plug it in to lots of different times throughout the year. One of the years that we bring it around is during our National Volunteer Week, or during Employee Appreciation Week, we're always reminding team members that this opportunity is out there. And I believe the history is that it was born from a team member raising their hand saying, can I give paid time off to someone around the Joplin tornado? Like, how can I help? I am in a different state, a different geographic location. I am not hurting. I want to help my hurting colleague. 

Becki Feldman  47:52
And so, that's how this was born, and the stories that have come from that it's, it's things as big as the Joplin tornado. And then other very personal and individual health kind of crises that our team members are going through, that they can lean on their team members for support and the stories that they share. You know, we share those internally. You know, where they've said, you've, you saved me, you know, financially, and also, I am, you know, indebted to Commerce for I cannot believe you took care of me in the way that you did, and that culture of caring is something that we're really proud of. And I think that E to E, employee to employee is just that kind of manifested in a financial way. But those acts of service, those acts of care are happening all over Commerce.

Lisa Nichols  50:04
And the impact of that, to your point, Becki. That you may truly have saved somebody really, or saved a family, or it could be all kinds of things. But I'm just thinking it's truly the way a healthy family should operate. And you guys, although you've got almost 5000 people, it's a healthy family, right? 

Becki Feldman  50:26
It's a human way to work. And that's something that we, it's been important to us even prior to COVID. I think other organizations decided, Hey, we're going to start caring about people a little bit more. You know, in the COVID era, it was important to us prior to that. And so, we were well on our way to really thinking very thoughtfully about the team member experience and making sure that we are taking care of people so that they can show up and do their best work. To care for our customers and to care for our community too.

Lisa Nichols  51:04
Right. No, that's so good. Well, it's, I've got a couple personal questions for you guys, and then we're talking about something extra, so I would love to know, and I say this just jokingly, but besides listening to something extra, how do you guys each grow? Because that's really important, right? I mean, as leaders, we've got to continue to grow ourselves. And you know, what are your favorite modalities? And then, do you have recommendations for our listeners? It could be a conference, it could be a podcast, it could be a book that you've read that really made a difference.

Becki Feldman  51:40
Great question. I can talk but somebody else go.

Lisa Nichols  51:44
Susan, okay. Susan, how about you? Do you want to go first?

Susan Kalist  51:47
So, sure, I'm going through a maybe a little bit different season right now, but it's working well. And I'm I consider myself a very spiritual person, so God's first in my heart, and that drives everything. And so grateful to be at an organization where your faith can show up, because we're just the genuine approach that we take is just doing the right thing. So, long story short, my middle child is a college sophomore. She's kind of rediscovering her faith a little bit. So, honestly, right now, there's a lot of sharing. In terms of when I have free time, my personal development is probably less on the business side right now than it has been for the last 25-26 years. It's more sharing with her different things, we're reading together. She's going through like a Biblical calendar with different discussion forums, and so I'm doing a lot of that, and that also keeps us connected while she's away at college. So, if that's you know, appealing to someone, and maybe regardless if they have a child that's away at school, but find a friend, find a relative, find a colleague that you can connect with. I'm more than happy to share some of those sources that she and I are using. God bless her. Literally, God bless her. She is the one driving it. I think she's shocked that I'm, like, embracing some of her new ideas, because I'm such a historic, you know, conservative. Grew up in a certain, you know, Faith profile. She's like, whoa, Mom, you're open minded. I said that's my assume positive intentions and be open to all ideas that I get from work. So hey, there it is. There you

Lisa Nichols  53:29
There you go. 

Becki Feldman  53:30
I have a book recommendation to share with you. I'll actually send you my copy, because I think you guys will really love it. It's a conversation starter between a mom and a daughter you might not know it. It just came out, and it is a faith-based kind of journal, but it's Mom Tell me why you're Catholic and everything else you love. And my friend wrote it with a sister, so it's really, really neat. So, I'll, I'll send it your way.

Susan Kalist  53:58
That's awesome. That's awesome. I know I'm a little bit of a non-conformist, but I'm loving this, this season of my life right now. 

Lisa Nichols  54:05
And there's nothing that's more important, Susan, really, and I've, you know, we don't have time to go into it, but that I've got a similar story where my daughter is the one now that's, you know, pushing me and, you know, to have these conversations. And I absolutely love it, so feel like she's ministering to me, which is really a blessing. How about you, Beth? 

Beth Feuring  54:29
Well, mine is not a book or a podcast, and I'll tell you, the only books I'm reading right now are children's books, because I have a four-year-old, a nine-year-old, and then my 18-year-old, so we're all over the place. But for me, relationships are key, and I learn through others. And so, I will say, I will find time to connect with people, to just learn about what have they learned? Like with Becki, I always hear new books from Becki. I always look at different things that she's got going on in our life. I'm like, Oh, that's interesting. And then that'll lead me on a journey to self-discover something same with Susan or sing with anyone else within my network. So, I use my network a lot to keep my eyes and my ears open, and then I'm also a big signaler. So, like, if I start seeing like words pop up, or if I see like certain things that are maybe on LinkedIn or on other social platforms, whether it's Instagram or Tiktok, or wherever it is that you're finding your news. I will look at those and like, oh, that word's popping up, or that's trending, or that's trending, and that will lead me on kind of another little journey to figure out what that is. So, it's more using social aspects of life and connections with people to stay current and relevant. And that's, that's probably my biggest thing, is use your network. If I was going to give advice to anyone, figure out how to make connections and use your network.

Lisa Nichols  55:55
Build a network, right? Build it. 

Beth Feuring  55:56
And it doesn't have to be this big. It doesn't big, long process, just little things that you get to know about somebody and they're there when you need them. It doesn't have to be like every week you're doing something with somebody, but you never know when they're when that relationship's going to come back up and be handy.

Lisa Nichols  56:16
I could not agree more. I feel like that. That is one of the best ways that I've learned throughout my career is by the people. 

Beth Feuring  56:23
From other people. You take something from everybody, and you're giving them something in return. So, it's mutual.
Lisa Nichols  56:28
You're exactly right. That's why I love doing the Something Extra Podcast. For my whole career I've networked. It's like now I get to share all of you lovely ladies and your wisdom and your insights with everybody.

Beth Feuring  56:42
With other people.

Lisa Nichols  56:43
Which is just, I love it. Miss Becki. How about you? 

Becki Feldman  56:47
Alright. So, I picked one that you said been my spare time. Well, I do. I've got some invest some of them I grabbed from your bookshelf that I owe you back, and I have post its on them that say these are Beth's. I need to give them back at some point, but I pulled out one that you introduced me to, Lisa. And this is one that I share. I mean this. I loved this podcast with Dana Spinola. It is worth a listen to, but I'm just going to read the tagline at the top, because it really speaks to something that, like if we talk about my season right now, this is what matters most to me. Ignite your passion, find your purpose and live life with meaning. So, love what you do is the name of the book. It's a really kind of easy read, but it's her story. And the funny thing about it is, I am an old school highlighter. My sister borrowed the book, because my sister's like, oh my gosh, I need that. When she saw a little snippet of it, and she said, Becki, you highlighted all the most important parts. And I said, Well, that's what you do with a highlighter in a book. 

Becki Feldman  57:54
It's really important to me that you're aligned, that I'm aligned, I shouldn't say you that I'm aligned with my purpose, because that's where I can do my best work. And I didn't always operate that way. And Lisa, you probably know some of that history, you know, I did everything for everyone because I wanted to help. And now I ask myself some questions first and to make sure that it's in alignment with my values, and if something doesn't fit, if something is harming me in some way, if faith, family, relationships, community and health, the answer is no. And I want others to be able to have those boundaries and to have that self-care and to be able to show up as their best self. That's a culture concept that we have here at Commerce. I am blessed that that's a part of us. It's called at your best. We want people to recognize those things. When are you at your best? When are you off your game, as I call it, and how, how can you manage your energy? Again, I'm using Commerce, culture, language. How do you manage your energy so that you show up in a way that is serving yourself and others around you?

Lisa Nichols  59:15
Wow, that is good. I've got a book recommendation for you guys. There is a book out there by Carrie Nieuwhof, and it's called, "At Your Best." "At Your Best." And he talks about red, green, yellow, and you kind of looking at your rhythms. It's an excellent, excellent book. He was on the podcast too. You'd have to go back. I don't remember what episode number, but, you know, it's probably maybe in the one hundreds, maybe early two hundreds episode, very, very good book. But you know, Becki, I'm glad that you brought up Dana, because I will never forget something that she said she was running herself ragged. She was not doing self-care. And so, to be at your best, ladies, we have to take care of ourselves, and we have to see what those we have to recognize those triggers in our life and when we're feeling depleted, when we're feeling these things, and that's where Dana was. In fact, she said what I realized was that my phone was always on 2% and so was I. And so, she had to take this step back, you know, to reevaluate. And, she's got some funny stories. She said that she her email, her inbox had gotten out of control, and she went in and deleted the whole thing. That would cause me more stress, but, but I'm glad that you brought her up. She's founded an amazing organization called Fabrik that's giving back and doing wonderful things to fight human trafficking. So, anyway, well, ladies, I have to ask you, this is called something extra. I have to ask you, what is the something extra that every leader needs? And you may each have a different answer. So, I'd love to hear your answers.

Beth Feuring  1:01:03
Mine is going to be human leadership. I do think that they need to see that you are a human, that you go through similar things in life, that they're experiencing, that you might be a parent, you might be a sibling, you might any and all of it. You're a human. You bring that to work and it's okay for people to know that you might not have all the answers. So, mine would be, be human, be authentic, and be you. That's, I think leaders need it.

Lisa Nichols  1:01:31
That's a good one. Susan, how about you?

Susan Kalist  1:01:36
Mine would be, there's a, there's beauty in holding people accountable, and you're doing it for their best interest. And so, a success for me is when I've got a relationship, personally as well as professionally, with somebody where that accountability, even if it's a tough conversation, is a positive outcome. So, accountability is my some something extra. People do it for me, and I'm hoping I'm doing it for others.

Lisa Nichols  1:02:04
It's good. Becki, how about you?

Becki Feldman  1:02:08
Mine would be appreciation to just have that part of your everyday, and not just the big moments, but recognizing those small moments. There's a phrase that I overheard from I don't think they call them something about team. There's a special team member term that they use at Target, but I just heard one of the managers one day to one of the cart kids, and he said, I'm glad you're here. Like it's that simple, and it's that simple just to recognize someone. I'm not saying recognize them for showing up, but for being you, for being here, for being a part of our team. I think that's so important that that we appreciate even in those small moments.

Lisa Nichols  1:03:01
That's it's powerful, and a word spoken at the right time in a fit way, right really could change somebody's life truly, you know. So, well, ladies, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for making the time today. I'm so excited for our listeners to hear your individual stories, as well as the Commerce Bank story, and just keep doing what you're doing, because you're making a tremendous difference in, in our, in your employee’s lives, and in our community. So, thank you so much for being here today. 

Susan Kalist  1:03:36
Thanks, Lisa. 

Becki Feldman  1:03:36
Thank you, Lisa.
Beth Feuring  1:03:38
Thank you.

Announcer  1:03:38
Thank you for listening to today's show Something Extra with Lisa Nichols as a Technology Partners Production Copyright Technology Partners Inc. 2019. For show notes, or to reach Lisa, visit tpi.co/podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen.

*Please note, the preceding transcription has been automatically generated and should be used for informational purposes only.